Aaron shook his leg nervously as he waited at the table. He sweated a little whenever he looked away from the plastic mannequin which stood, clothed in a beautiful white dress, in the shop window opposite the street, his mind picturing Delilah's face on the mannequin as he ran through what he would say when he saw her.

'It's good to see you,' he thought to the mannequin. 'You had a good week?'

'Nah,' Aaron decided. 'Too bland. Need to spice it up a bit.'

"Don't worry too much about what you say to her," Aaron recalled Ricky telling him. "Just make sure it's a memorable evening. Oh – but make sure you open with something interesting. It will set a tone for the entire night."

'Hey girl,' Aaron projected onto the mannequin, 'Are you a shop window dummy, because you… er… don't seem to be moving.'

Aaron buried his face in his hand. "Why did I listen to Ricky?" he muttered to himself, his brain blank as he tried to conjure up a better line for the mannequin.

"Is that mannequin interesting to you?" came a gentle, female voice.

Aaron broke a slight sweat as he looked up. "Ah! Delilah! It's… it's good to see you. You had a good week?"

"I have, thank you," Delilah replied, simply.

"Here… allow me…" Aaron fumbled around Delilah, pulling the seat opposite away from the table. Delilah looked at Aaron with slight surprise, smiling sweetly as she sat down.

"In case you were wondering, I prefer your company to that mannequin over there," Aaron muttered as he shuffled back to his seat. "I mean… you're sentient."

Delilah laughed at that.

"And I really enjoyed our last date… our first date. Our other date that we went on."

Delilah patiently waited for Aaron to finish stumbling. "I enjoyed it too," she agreed. She took a moment to glance around the restaurant. "Interesting place you brought me to."

"I must admit I've never been here before," Aaron said. He took a look at the open plan kitchen area, with the steaks curing and soaking up their seasoning for all to see. "My friend recommended this to me."

"Is that… Ricky?"

"Yeah," Aaron muttered. "Him."

"You must have unusual friends," Delilah said.

Aaron pondered for a moment. "You know, I do have unusual friends. I'm like an unusual friends magnet!"

Delilah chuckled. "Oh really?"

"Yeah," Aaron replied. "They're a good bunch of people though. I'm lucky to have been placed in a flat with them."

"Good."

"Have you managed to make many friends here?"

"Well… there's Tia. We live together but I don't get to see her a whole lot. She's probably studying right now."

"Ah, I see."

"She's cleverer than me," Delilah admitted. "She came top of her year for maths last year. I couldn't even top physics!"

"That's impressive," Aaron said, noticing Delilah's hand across the middle of the table. His own hand shuffled awkwardly about a quarter of the way towards hers, before staying put in an uncomfortable position. "But I can already tell you're a genius."

"You think?"

Aaron smiled. "You have that spark in your eye that I see in smart people," he commented.

"A clever spark?" Delilah burst out laughing. "That is ridiculous!"

Aaron waved his hands around frantically. "I'm being serious," he insisted. "There's a glow I see whenever I talk to clever people, and I see it in you."

"Sure," Delilah said, with a wide smile upon her face.

"Who even wants to be top of first year anyway?" Aaron said, his hand clung to its spot. "It's easy as hell, and it doesn't even count!"

"That's true," Delilah agreed. "Still coasting through first year comp sci?" Aaron watched Delilah's hand like a hawk as it subconsciously moved to the edge of the table in front of her.

"I've heard rumours that it'll get harder next year," Aaron reported. "I don't like them."

"The rumours are true," Delilah admitted.

"You didn't have to confirm them," Aaron said, his eyes trailing onto the street. Out of the corner of his perception, a gathering of people had emerged around the white-clad mannequin, which danced alongside her friends in the shop window.

"What's going on out there?" Aaron pondered.

Delilah turned her head to look out of the window. "Hmm," she said. "Maybe that mannequin is still sentient after all."

Aaron turned to face Delilah again. "I still prefer you," he said.

Delilah looked Aaron directly in the eye, her hand back on the table. "Aw," she responded.

The sound of smashing glass erupted from across the street. Aaron and Delilah both turned their attention back to the window as screaming crowds fled from the mannequins who slowly poured onto the pavement, their fingers on one hand hinging downwards to reveal a metal tube inside their palms.

"What the…" Delilah began.

Aaron grasped onto Delilah's hand and pulled her from her seat. "Run!" he cried.

"Where?" Delilah asked. Across the restaurant, customers and staff were scrambling around in panic, one couple almost flattening Aaron as they ran into him. Out of the corner of his eye, Aaron saw a waitress standing by the kitchen door, holding it open.

"That one's coming towards us!" Delilah observed.

Aaron pulled Delilah towards the kitchen door, following the streams of people who ran past the bemused chefs towards the rear exit. Aaron began to lead Delilah towards the end of the alleyway. Delilah pulled on his hand. Another mannequin stormed past the end of the alleyway, its head fortunately not turning as it ran past.

"We'll be trapped if we stay here!" Delilah wailed.

Aaron led Delilah slowly towards the end of the alleyway, their fingers remaining interlocked the entire way. "Coast is clear," he said. "Let's go!"

Delilah kept up with Aaron as he hurtled down the street. A small fire had started in the corner outside a nearby clothing shop.

"Taxi!" Delilah cried, as a black cab emerged near them. Immediately, a hoard of people jumped in front of Aaron and Delilah into the taxi, before the taxi drove away to reveal a mannequin ambling towards where Aaron and Delilah stood, frozen to the ground.

"In here!" Aaron insisted, bringing Delilah into an emptied shop. Aaron's eyes widened in horror as he noticed the clothing range that surrounded him.

"Do you think they'll still be in here?" Delilah whispered.

"I don't know," Aaron whispered, looking towards the entrance. The mannequin was stood in front of the door, its head turned to look around inside.

"This way," Delilah whispered, pulling Aaron towards a changing room. She trembled a little as she wrapped her arms around Aaron, her head buried in his chest.

"Did it see us?" Aaron whispered.

"Shh!" Delilah insisted.

Boots clanged uneasily against the floor outside the changing room. Delilah squeezed Aaron tighter, whimpering a little. Suddenly, a loud clattering came from outside, before a lifeless, disembodied plastic head rolled underneath the curtain, stopping as it hit Aaron's foot.

"It's found us!" Delilah screeched.

"Wait," Aaron said, bending down to pick up the head.

"Don't show us to it!" Delilah wailed.

"I don't think it can see anything anymore," Aaron observed, shaking the head around rapidly. The footsteps against the shop floor had stopped. Outside, the screaming panic had turned to a chattering of stunned activity, with police sirens wailing all over.

Aaron knelt down against the ground, daring to peek underneath the curtain. The mannequin lay against the ground in pieces, its body as lifeless as the head.

"Delilah, look," he said.

Aaron flinched a little as Delilah flung the curtain backwards. "It's dead," Delilah observed. "I think. Is it dead?"

"I'd say so," Aaron said.

"What if whoever animated these things meant for them to appear dead for a little while?" Delilah pondered. "What if we just gave our position away?"

Aaron examined the open curtain. "I think on some level, you knew it was over."

"Yeah," Delilah said, grasping onto Aaron's hand and bringing him beside the mannequin carcass. Before his brain connected with what he was doing, Aaron propelled his leg forwards and gave the mannequin a solid kick.

"I think it's just cold, dead metal again," Aaron observed.

"Metal?" Delilah laughed. "Mannequins are made from plastic!"

"Oh, right…" Aaron muttered. Quickly, he ran back towards the changing room, and the head inside. "It seems to be plastic all the way through, though. Someone must have programmed this, but…" Aaron looked up at Delilah, who stood uncertainly by the mannequin's body, her face a picture of dread.

"Sorry," Aaron said, rushing back towards Delilah and giving her a long, tight hug. "Are you ok?" he asked her.

Delilah squeezed Aaron back, before looking up towards his face. "Yeah," she said. "Aaron… you're a lovely guy, and I really want to see you again. But…"

Aaron's pulse quickened as he waited for Delilah to finish. "But…" Aaron led.

"I want to go home now," Delilah decided. "And then we can do something nice together another time. Is that ok?"

Aaron glanced around at the scene outside the shop. "Understandable," he agreed. "I'd love to see you again another time."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Let me get you home safely," Aaron insisted.

"Thank you," Delilah said. "How will we get there though? People are filling up the taxis beyond hope."

"We can get the bus, though, right? Or the tube?"

"Will they still be operating?"

"Delilah, how long have you been living in London?"

"A year and a half."

"I've lived here my whole life," Aaron declared. "If there's one thing I know about London, it's that it doesn't stop. For anything. Not for long." He held Delilah in front of him, his hands wrapped comfortably around her shoulders. "Show me how you got here, Delilah. We'll find our way back."

The journey to Delilah's door was almost entirely in silence. Delilah sat warmly against Aaron on the bus, her arm wrapped around him, her head regularly frequenting his shoulder. It didn't take long for the bus to arrive near Delilah's student house, and for Aaron to walk her to her doorstep.

"This was nice," Delilah said. "Apart from the murderous shop window dummies."

"They did put a bit of a downer of things," Aaron admitted.

Delilah grimaced. "Thank you for walking me home," she said. "You're really sweet."

"That's alright," Aaron said, blankly.

"Are you free on Tuesday evening?" Delilah asked.

"Tuesday?" Aaron repeated. "I don't have any plans."

"I've been trying out making curries from scratch," Delilah said. "I'd like to experiment on you."

Aaron chuckled. "Ok then," he said. "I'll be your guinea pig."

"Want to get here on Tuesday for 7?" Delilah suggested.

"It's a date," Aaron replied.

"Fantastic," Delilah beamed. Hesitantly, she stood in front of Aaron, her lips perched, before pressing her mouth quickly against his. "Goodnight, Aaron," she said.

"Goodnight, Delilah," Aaron smiled. Delilah unlocked the door to her house, her head turning to look at Aaron one more time as she walked inside.

"How did it go?" Ricky pressed, as he entered the kitchen. "I guess you're sitting here eating corn flakes without her, so that tells me something."

"We've been on two dates," Aaron explained, patiently. "And one of them was cut short by animated shop window dummies!"

"Animated shop window dummies?" Neha looked up from her toast.

"It was in the news," Aaron said, plainly.

"Must have missed it," Neha mumbled. "Was having a girls' night in with some girls on Olivia's course."

"Makes sense," Ricky agreed.

"Does it?" Aaron cried, startled. "People died! All over London! Delilah and I – we could have died!"

"But you protected her?" Neha asked.

"We hid from them in a changing room," Aaron recalled.

"Sounds cosy," Ricky said.

"Cosy? It was terrifying!" Aaron insisted. "We were lucky that the mannequin who was after us got deactivated before it could find us."

"How did you know when it was safe?" Neha asked, her chin perched against the backs of her hands.

"I had a hunch," Aaron said. "So I investigated. We came out when they had all gone back to being dummies and then I brought her home."

"And what then?" Neha pressed.

"We made plans for Tuesday evening. And then she kissed me."

"Oh." Neha finished her toast and looked down at her empty plate.

"Oh?" Aaron said. "What do you mean, 'oh'?"

"If a guy had done that for Neha," Ricky said. "She'd have brought him inside, stripped him and had her way with him."

"Hey!" Neha protested, slamming her hand against Ricky's arm. "Yeah, I would," she admitted. "But come on! Why didn't she?"

"Because we barely knew each other!" Aaron insisted. "And she was clearly terrified. We were both terrified. We could have died!"

"And you were the only thing keeping her safe," Neha smirked.

The door to the kitchen slammed open. "Did you hear about what happened last night?" Olivia cried as she entered. "Shop window dummies coming to life and murdering people in the street!"

"I know!" Aaron said. "I was on a date!"

"Oh, really?" Olivia said. "You do computer science…"

"Oof!" Ricky interrupted.

"You didn't let me finish," Olivia said, indignantly. "You do computer science – did you manage to crack one open and figure out what was causing them to animate?"

"I was too busy making sure that my date got home safely," Aaron replied.

"And get this, Livia," Neha put in. "When he walked her to her house, she just arranged another date, kissed him, and went inside without him!"

"Well, yeah, wouldn't you?" Olivia said. "I mean – shop window dummies had just come to life! Poor girl must have been terrified!"

"So was I," Aaron said.

"It's great that she still invited you for another date though," Olivia said, sitting down next to Aaron. "What plans have you got?"

"She's cooking for me," Aaron said.

"In her house?"

"Yeah."

"So she did invite you inside!" Neha laughed. "She just delayed it a few days for some reason."

"Well," Aaron said, "I imagine she wanted to not be in a state of fear when…"

"Mate, you are so getting laid," Ricky added, before responding to the high-five Neha had just offered him.

"Not necessarily," Aaron protested. "All she's doing is cooking me dinner."

"In her own house," Ricky cried.

"You're embarrassing him," Olivia scorned.

"Sorry, Olivia," Ricky replied, mockingly.

"Aaron and his girl… what's her name?"

"Delilah," Aaron said.

"Delilah," Olivia repeated. "Aaron and Delilah went through a lot last night when they were just supposed to be having a pleasant evening together. People died on the streets around them!"

"Sorry Aaron," Ricky said. "It must have been traumatic for you being chased around the streets by aliens."

"I never said they were alien!" Olivia protested.

"I never said that you said they were alien," Ricky objected.

"Like the Loch Ness Monster," Neha piled on.

"I wasn't going to say that!" Ricky laughed, pointing at Neha.

"It's just a conspiracy theory," Olivia insisted. "Just a bit of fun!"

"Or those underground lizards," Ricky continued. "What were they? The Silurians?"

"I thought they were Sea Devils?" Neha added.

"I think they were two separate alien races," Ricky said.

"Neither of them are alien!" Olivia cried.

"Oh, yes, I remember now," Ricky said. "They've been on Earth longer than humans. That's right."

"You two are the worst," Olivia scowled. She wrapped an arm carefully around Aaron. "Are you alright after last night? Does it haunt you? Did you get off to sleep ok?"

"I'm… I'm fine," Aaron insisted, pushing Olivia's arm away from him.